Immigration Department Suspends 10-Year Malaysian Passport Validity Over Overseas Airline System Issues

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 12 — The Immigration Department has suspended the validity of Malaysian International Passports (PMA) with validity periods exceeding 10 years until operational issues are fully resolved with international airlines and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Immigration Director-General Datuk Zakaria Shaaban announced that holders of affected passports will be given priority for replacements. The department is also issuing formal notification letters to all international airlines to assist affected Malaysian travellers currently abroad.

The directive comes following multiple incidents where PMA holders carrying passports valid for over 10 years experienced check-in rejections and system clearance failures with foreign carriers at overseas airports.

“To address this confusion, the department has stipulated that the maximum validity period for a PMA is 10 years,” Zakaria said in an official statement today.

“This stipulation is intended to standardise the validity period of PMAs and avoid confusion over the additional six-month validity requirement, which is interpreted differently by some airlines,” he added.

Zakaria noted that the department took swift action after monitoring viral reports regarding international travel disruptions experienced by Malaysian citizens. Although earlier consultations with ICAO confirmed that international regulations do not prohibit issuing passports valid beyond 10 years, airline reservation and border control systems overseas have failed to handle the extended format uniformly.

“However, confusion arose when several holders of PMAs exceeding 10 years encountered problems during check-in with several airlines overseas,” Zakaria explained.

The issue gained widespread public attention after a Malaysian traveller, identified online as Miza, posted on Threads detailing her travel ordeals in Dubai, Johannesburg, and Windhoek. She reported that airport check-in systems and border authorities repeatedly flagged her passport because their digital infrastructure could not process documents with validity periods exceeding a decade.

The Immigration Department introduced the upgraded PMA structure offering a 10-year validity option on July 1 to reduce renewal frequencies and offer greater convenience for frequent international travellers. Under the current fee structure, the 10-year passport is priced at RM350, while the standard five-year passport remains at RM200.

Reiterating the department’s commitment to traveler welfare, Zakaria emphasized that continuous enhancements will be made to streamline PMA processing and guarantee smooth, systematic international travel for all Malaysians.

–NMT